10 October 2007

Bill Donohue, never one to miss a chance of being an epitome of what is horrible and wrong about religion, is already bashing The Golden Compass, not due for release for another month. The movie, apparently, is a rather bowdlerized version of a great book; Donohue recognizes that but is worried that “seeing the movie might prompt youngsters, or their parents, to read the books”.

If your religious beliefs are so weak that they may not withstand one fantasy novel, no wonder you are so fucking paranoid!

More details here. This includes the most odious statement from Father Jonathan Morris, a “Fox News contributor”: “These books by Pullman, is — they’re fiction of ideology. And ideology is a big thing. It distorts minds of kids. Have you ever met a really happy kid who is an atheist? I mean, give me a break. We have to spend our time helping kids become happy people. I don’t think this is the way.”

If ideology “distorts the minds of kids”, we should certainly not be pounding their brains with our religious beliefs! Is Father Morris opposed to Sunday Church? He should be; the effect of religious upbringing on a child is likely to be far more wide-reaching than a movie seen maybe twice.

Have you ever seen a happy atheist kid? I was; I know of several. All kids are atheists until brainwashed by their parents into a religion of their choice; most of them are happy; it is the idiocy of religions and the cognitive dissonance they engender that bring confusion and unhappiness. This seems to me so clear it should be obvious to an untrained observer…;)